He started his career in the early 1970s as a singer in spit 'n' sawdust bars. Initially, he was deeply influenced by the beat generation, novelists like Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, and poets like Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski. Waits is often compared to Charles Bukowski, being similar both in content and lifestyle
Waits was unable to make a living from his music in the 70s because his classical bar music, based in pre-rock, and Americana, blues, and Vaudeville styles were not popular. Waits's voice back then was soft, warm and clear.
Waits subsequently developed a devoted cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters, despite having little radio or music video support. In fact, his songs are perhaps best known to the general public in the form of cover versions of more visible artists, such as the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart.
Although Waits’s albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries.
Lyrically, Waits's songs are known for atmospheric portrayals of seedy characters and places; he sings about the losers on the streets: alcoholics, junkies, prostitutes and social outcasts, although he also includes more conventional and touching ballads in his repertoire.
While opening for Frank Zappa, the audience catcalled and refused to listen to him; he was an unsuitable match with Zappa's avantgarde style.
Countless cigarettes, gallons of alcohol and many all night parties eventually left their trace in his face and voice.
His more recent gravelly voice can be first heard on Small Change. This distinctive voice turned out to be his trademark. It is described by the Music Hound Rock Album Guide as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car". Small Change with its sentimental ballads, its bar-jazz attitude and Film Noir-oriented stories turned out to be his biggest commercial success in the 1970s.
Waits subsequently developed a more unique style. His songs have grown more abrasive since then, and the arrangements have turned more surreal and experimental with every new record. His life brings him to new visions, as indicated by the direction taken in his "Alice" release.
While composing the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's One From The Heart Waits met Kathleen Brennan, his bride-to-be. They married in 1980 and she helped him quit drinking and smoking. Since their marriage they have been working together on his albums as co-producers and co-writers. It is hard to say which part belongs to her and which to him, but it's easy to see that they make a perfect team. Additionally, his eldest son Casey can be heard on turntables and percussion on Waits's album "Real Gone".
One of Waits's greatest successes was the album "Swordfishtrombones", released in 1983. It struck with his critics and fans alike. He achieved a new level of song writing and left former conventions (and his earlier career) behind. All songs, whether ballads, jive or jazz are played in a completely different way. It seems that Waits had taken the musical archetypes of these styles and made them his own. All tracks are in the quintessential Waits style. They have a striking rawness and listenability and they set the stage for his success and his future career.
The Bad As Me Songfacts reports that 36 years after the release of Waits' first album, Closing Time in 1973, Bad As Me became Waits's first ever top 10 album in the US when it debuted at #6 with 63,000 sales.
In the late 1980s Waits discovered an outlet for his creativity in composing musicals. His first Musical was named "The Black Rider", and is based on "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber. It was co-produced by Robert Wilson and the lyrics come from William S. Burroughs. The story is slightly reminiscent of Kurt Weil's and Berthold Brecht's "Three Penny Opera" and the 1930s. The debut performance of the play was in 1990 at the Thalia Theater, Hamburg and has been played by various theatre groups since then.
Waits was also responsible for two other musicals, which later became albums released simultaneously in 2002. One was the musical "Blood Money," which covers the "Woyczek" theme of Georg Büchner. This one is one of the darkest works from Waits. The other musical is based on Lewis Carroll's classic children's novel, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". "Alice" is very romantic, dreamy and soft, and contains one of Waits most romantic songs. Even though they were released at the same time, the bootlegs of the "Alice" musical were long before traded between fans and were just rearranged and re-mastered for the official release.
Besides many film contributions as composer – the Internet Movie Database imdb.com lists 47 appearances of Waits as composer and 38 soundtracks containing songs by Waits - he also is an actor with a total of 25 appearances, ranging from some mini-roles as a trumpeter in "Heart of Saturday Night" and the R. M. Renfield in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" to the major role of Zack in Jim Jarmusch's "Down by Law". He recently appeared in Roberto Benigni's "The Tiger and the Snow", playing You Can Never Hold Back Spring at Benigni's wedding dream. Even more recently, Waits played Mr.Nick (the Devil) in Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus".
In addition to a number of concert videos, he also appeared in the critically-acclaimed concert feature film "Big Time" (1990).
Waits has always refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials. He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers for using his material without permission. Waits also successfully sued an advertiser for using a work that was stylistically similar to his work, after he had declined to sell them the rights to his song. He has been quoted as saying, "Apparently the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad — ideally naked and purring on the hood of a new car. I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor."
This One
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But instead I'll just pour myself a drink
It's got to be love, I've never felt this way
Oh baby, this one's from the heart
The shadows in the road look like a railroad track
I wonder if he's (ever) really comin' back
The moon's a yellow stain across the sky
(Maybe) And I'll go down to the corner and get a racin' form
(But) And I should probably wait here by the phone
And the brakes need adjustment on the convertible
Oh baby, this one's from the heart
The worm is climbin' the other color tree
Robin is back against the wall
Pour myself a double sympathy
Oh baby, this one's from the heart
Blonde's, brunettes, and redheads put their hammer down
(To put ) don't pound a cold chisel through my heart
But they were nothin' but apostrophes
O baby, this one's from the heart
I can't tell, is that a siren or a saxophone
But the roads get so slippery (when it rains)
I love you more than all these words can ever say
Oh baby, this one's from the heart
"This One's From The Heart" by Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle is a song that tells a story of a person who is head-over-heels in love but suspicious of their partner's commitment. The first verse sets the stage on Independence Day, a time of celebration for the nation but the singer is holed up at home with a drink because of their unresolved feelings. It's a poignant reminder that love can make us feel apart from all the joyous things. The second verse is a reflection of their doubtful thoughts as they watch shadows on the road that represent train tracks, symbolic of distance and separation. The final verse is a plea to the universe to send a sign of assurance that the love is real and mutual.
It's a song that skillfully intertwines instrumentation, lyrics and the vocal interplay between the two artists to create a mood of longing with a touch of melancholy. The saxophone line on the song has an earworm quality, repeating like a siren in the background. The lyrics are filled with metaphors and curious imagery that give it a dreamlike quality. The song is a testament to Tom Waits' versatile songwriting skills, turning out a haunting love song that successfully blends different genres like jazz, country and rock.
Line by Line Meaning
As you go out it's Independence Day
As you leave me, it's a time of celebration, but for me, it's just another day without you.
But instead I'll just pour myself a drink
Instead of celebrating with fireworks and parties, I'll drink alone and drown my sorrows.
It's got to be love, I've never felt this way
This feeling I have is too potent and unique to be anything but love.
Oh baby, this one's from the heart
This is no casual fling - this is a heartfelt message to the one I love.
The shadows in the road look like a railroad track
Everything is a melancholy reminder of you - even the mundane act of driving evokes memories.
I wonder if he's (ever) really comin' back
I can't help but ponder if you'll ever return to me, but hopelessly so.
The moon's a yellow stain across the sky
Even the grandeur of the moon is diminished in the face of my sadness without you.
Maybe And I'll go down to the corner and get a racin' form
Perhaps I'll distract myself with frivolous things, like betting on horse races, but it won't fill the void.
But And I should probably wait here by the phone
Despite my attempts to distract myself, I know deep down that I'll just sit and wait for your call, desperate for any connection to you.
And the brakes need adjustment on the convertible
Even practical tasks like fixing the car can't keep my mind off of you and our past memories together.
Oh baby, this one's from the heart
This love letter isn't just words on paper - it's a genuine, heartwarming expression of my emotions for you.
The worm is climbin' the other color tree
Even a simple sight like a worm on a tree takes on new meaning and pain in your absence.
Robin is back against the wall
Just like the bird with its back to the wall, I feel similarly cornered and trapped without you.
Pour myself a double sympathy
At times like these, all I have is my own self-pity to keep me company, leading to a bleak cycle of drinking and sadness.
Oh baby, this one's from the heart
No matter the circumstance, the genuineness of my love remains uncompromised - this song is truly from the depths of my heart.
Blonde's, brunettes, and redheads put their hammer down
All other women pale in comparison to my feelings for you - they are mere shadows in the face of our love.
To put don't pound a cold chisel through my heart
I could never bear to see you hurt me, to 'pound a cold chisel' through my heart - my heart is already aching with the absence of you.
But they were nothin' but apostrophes
All other women that may catch my eye are merely brief interruptions, lacking the depth and intensity of my love for you.
O baby, this one's from the heart
No matter how hard times may be, my love for you will always be this raw, this emotional, and this undeniably real.
I can't tell, is that a siren or a saxophone
Everything seems disorienting and surreal without you - even the sounds of everyday life become jumbled and lost.
But the roads get so slippery (when it rains)
Navigating life without you is often as treacherous as a slippery, rain-soaked road, adding to the chaos of my feelings.
I love you more than all these words can ever say
In the end, words are insufficient to describe the intensity of my love for you - it's beyond description and the limit of language.
Oh baby, this one's from the heart
My love for you cannot be contained or reduced to mere language - this song is the closest I can get to expressing it.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
steve Silverstone
Two comments? Possibly one of the greatest movies ever made, with an amazing soundtrack. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a different world.
JoeCoe
Me too, man
Brian Shoman
Great soundtrack and I actually enjoy the movie but not one of the greatest movies ever made. There are many other Coppola films that surpass this.
Matthew McLaughlin
Reminds me of a time about 13 years ago when I was falling, falling badly in love...... I ended up marrying her. This album will always bring those times back to me. Thanks for sharing this. Waits is a brilliant songwriter - a real magician at the keyboard.
Jake Visser
This song makes everything okay again
Angie King
I concur 🙌🎶💖
Carlos Fonseca
LIsbon. This film is a jewel. The sound track is superb. Tom Wiaits enriches the film as well as every artist of the movie.
Angierash
Heartbreakingly beautiful
zoomankat
If Only they had got Tom and Crystal to have played the leads in the movie !!
stephen rossiter
It was the point that the peeps were'nt special. Normal people. Its a high value hollywood film about normal people. Us. Most underestimated film.